Adjustable armrest for motor vehicle inside panel

ABSTRACT

An armrest for an inside wall of a motor vehicle, in particular for a door, the armrest being of elongate shape along a main longitudinal axis, presenting a first end region along the axis, the first end region being connected to the wall by a connection member, wherein the connection member defines a pivoting connection about a substantially horizontal transverse axis enabling the armrest to move angularly relative to the wall, and the armrest includes a locking member co-operating with a stop piece secured to the wall and adapted to hold the armrest in modifiable manner in a selected angular position.

The invention relates to an armrest for an inside wall of a motorvehicle, in particular for a door, the armrest being of elongate shapealong a main longitudinal axis, presenting a first end region along saidaxis, said first end region being connected to the wall by means of aconnection member.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In general, armrests secured to a vehicle wall are formed directly inthe inside trim of the door, which trim is itself usually made as arigid one-piece molding of plastics material, or else they are formed asseparate pieces that are fixed rigidly and permanently to a wall.

Such designs do not enable the position of the armrest to be adjusted asa function of the user. As a result user comfort is not optimized.

In certain up-market vehicles, a central armrest is provided that isadjustable, often by means that are expensive and bulky and unsuitablefor transposing to door armrests .

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One of the main objects of the invention is to remedy those drawbacksand to provide a wall armrest which is adjustable in position so that auser can adjust the height of a rest portion relative to the wall.Another object is to provide an armrest of the above type which issimple to manufacture and to use.

To this end, the connection member defines a pivoting connection about asubstantially horizontal transverse axis enabling the armrest to moveangularly relative to the wall, and the armrest includes a lockingmember co-operating with a stop piece secured to the wall and adapted tohold the armrest in modifiable manner in a selected angular position.

According to other characteristics:

the stop piece and the locking member have complementary notches andteeth extending radially relative to the pivot axis, said notches andteeth presenting a plurality of relative positions and being coupledtogether or uncoupled by relative movement in substantially longitudinaltranslation;

the stop piece has at least one notch while the locking member has aplurality of teeth;

the stop piece is fixed relative to the wall and the locking member hasa rod that is slidable relative to the armrest in a substantiallylongitudinal direction;

a return spring acting in the sliding direction of the rod connects saidrod to the armrest in such a manner as to apply a force tending tocouple together the notches and the teeth;

the armrest presents a hollow inside volume in which the stop piece andat least a portion of the locking member carrying the teeth extend, anend portion of the rod extending to a top face of the armrest so as toconstitute a control member;

the connection member comprises a shaft mounted to turn in acomplementary hole of a fixing piece secured to the wall, and a frictionring engaged on said shaft and bearing against an adjacent wall of thefixing piece so as to exert torque that resists pivoting of the armrestrelative to the wall;

the friction ring is made of a flexible elastic material, in particularof rubber;

the armrest is secured to a handle which presents a circularly arcuaterod centered on the pivot axis of the armrest, the rod being engaged ina hole formed through a substantially horizontal arm of a forcetransmission piece secured to the wall so as to enable the rod to slidefreely through the hole with a small amount of radial clearance; and

the handle member is a hollow piece fitted to the armrest in acomplementary recess, the rod extending downwards essentially in arecess within the armrest that is adapted to receive at least theperforated portion of the arm of the force transmission piece.

The invention also provides a motor vehicle including an armrest asdescribed above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

An embodiment of the invention is described below with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic face view of the inside wall panel of a motorvehicle door fitted with an armrest of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a section view in a longitudinal midplane solely of thearmrest shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 2A shows a detail A of FIG. 2 on a larger scale;

FIG. 3 is a section view on line 3—3 through the armrest and the trimpanel shown in FIG. 1, on a larger scale;

FIG. 4 is a section view on line 4—4 through the armrest and the trimpanel shown in FIG. 1, on a larger scale; and

FIG. 5 is a section view on line 5—5 through the armrest and the trimpanel shown in FIG. 1, on a larger scale.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a motor vehicle door 1 covered on the inside ofthe vehicle by a trim panel 3 which is made, for example, out of rigidmolded plastics material, and on this same side it carries an armrest 5of elongate shape extending along a substantially horizontal axis thatis parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle.

FIG. 2 is a section through the armrest 5 in a longitudinal midplanecontaining said axis.

The armrest 5 is pivotally mounted to the trim panel 3 (which is securedto an inside wall of the door, not shown) via a connection member 7situated in a rear end region 5A of the armrest 5. The connection member7 defines a pivotal connection about a substantially horizontaltransverse axis X—X such that the armrest 5 can move angularly relativeto the door 1 and to the trim panel 3.

The armrest 5 also has a locking member 10 for holding the armrest 5 ina determined angular position about the axis X—X relative to the trimpanel 3. The locking member 10 co-operates with a complementary stoppiece 12 secured to the wall.

The locking member 10 is in the form of a rod 14 mounted to slide in alongitudinal direction relative to the armrest 5, provided at each endwith a respective orthogonal branch 16, 18, the first branch 16extending upwards and presenting a portion 19 flush with the top surfaceof the armrest to constitute a control piece accessible to a user, andthe second branch 18 extending downwards. The second branch 18 presentsa series of teeth 21 that are spaced apart vertically, being distributedalong its height and facing rearwards towards a pair of complementarynotches 23 formed in the stop piece 12.

The rod 14 is slidably mounted in a guide 25 secured to the armrest 5 sothat the teeth 21 can be engaged in the corresponding notches 23 ordisengaged therefrom, depending on whether the rod is movedlongitudinally forwards or backwards respectively relative to thearmrest.

As can be seen more clearly in FIG. 2A, the teeth 21 extendsubstantially radially relative to the pivot axis X—X of the armrest sothat locking and unlocking can be performed regardless of the angularposition of the armrest 5 about said axis X—X, i.e. regardless of whichteeth 21 are facing the notches 23 prior to being moved into engagement.

Facing the notches 23, the stop piece 12 presents an abutment face 27limiting the longitudinal stroke of the branch 18 in the stop piece 12.

Furthermore, the teeth 21 are disengaged from the notches 23 against alongitudinal return force exerted by a return spring 30 on the rod 14.One of the ends of the return spring 30 is secured to the guide 25 andits other end is secured to a collar 32 formed on the rod 14.

In the front end region 5B of the armrest 5, a control panel 35 isintegrated in the armrest, this panel including control members, inparticular electrical members for controlling accessories such aswindow-raising motors, seat actuators, etc.

In an intermediate region, on a top face of the armrest 5, there isdisposed an armrest handle 37 enabling the door to be opened and closed.The handle 37 is in the form of a hollow cup inserted in a complementaryrecess formed in the rest surface of the armrest 5. It enables a user totake hold of the armrest by sliding the ends of the fingers therein, andto close the door from inside the vehicle by pulling on the handle 37.

FIG. 3 is a detail view of the pivoting connection between the armrest 5and the trim panel 3 of the door wall. The trim panel 3 has a hole 39surrounded by a tubular bush 41 integrally formed with the panel 3 anddirected towards the inside of the vehicle. The armrest has a hollowinside volume in which there extends a cylindrical shaft 43 forco-operating with the hole 39 transversely and coaxially inside the bush41. The free end of the shaft 43 is inserted into the hole 39 andprojects beyond the wall formed by the trim panel 3, with the shaft 43being prevented from moving in translation relative to the trim panel 3by a lock washer 45 engaged in a groove in the shaft 43. A friction ring47 is placed in the volume between the outside surface of the shaft 43and the inside surface of the bush 41 so that the inside surface of thefriction ring 47 bears against the shaft 43 and its outside surfacebears against the inside face of the bush 41. The friction ring 47 ismade of a flexible elastic material such as rubber so as to providetorque opposing pivoting of the shaft 43 and consequently the armrest 5relative to the trim panel 3 about the axis X—X. The purpose of thisdisposition is to compensate in particular for the weight of the armrestwhenever the locking member 10 is disengaged from the notches 23 so asto ensure firstly that the armrest does not drop down if the user doesnot hold it up, and secondly does not require too great a retentionforce.

FIG. 4 is a section view in a horizontal plane through the stop piece 12in particular, and it can be seen that the stop piece 12 is formed by anH-shaped fitting whose branches are disposed on either side of thesecond branch 18 of the locking member 10 between the notches 23 and theabutment face 27. The stop piece 12 is secured to a metal fixing plate50 which is itself fixed to the wall (not shown) of the door by means ofbolts 52. A sealing sheet 55 is interposed in conventional mannerbetween the trim panel 3 and the wall of the door, this sealing sheet 55also being clamped between the fixing plate 50 and the stop piece 12.

Like the locking member 10, the stop piece 12 extends into the hollowinside volume 60 of the armrest 5, said inside volume 60 beingaccessible from inside the vehicle via a removable access hatch 62mounted on a side face of the armrest 5 facing the stop piece 12 and thetoothed branch 8 of the locking member 10. This access hatch 62 is forfacilitating maintenance operations on the complete locking device orfor enabling the bolts 52 to be undone so as to enable the armrest to beremoved from the wall of the door.

FIG. 5 shows the armrest handle 37 in greater detail together with itsdevice for being fixed relative to the wall of the door. In order toavoid deforming the armrest and suffering pull forces that are too greatat its fixing points, provision is generally made for the forces exertedon the armrest handle 37 to be transmitted directly to the wall of thedoor. Since the angular position of the armrest of the invention isadjustable, it is necessary to provide an armrest handle 37 that can bemoved together with the armrest 5 while simultaneously ensuring thatpull forces are transmitted to the wall of the door regardless of theangular position of the armrest 5.

For this purpose, the armrest handle 37 is engaged as a force-fit in acomplementary recess of the armrest 5 and is held in position by meansof notches 66 and an abutment collar 64 bearing against the rest surfaceof the armrest. The handle 37 also has a bottom wall 68 secured to acircularly arcuate rod 70 centered on the pivot axis X—X of the armrest.This circularly arcuate shape for the rod 70 can be seen in FIG. 2.Furthermore, the metal fixing plate 50 is rigidly fixed to aforce-transmitting bracket 72 by means of rivets 74 with the sealingsheet 55 being clamped between them. The bracket 72 has a substantiallyhorizontal arm 76 in the form of a plate which is perforated in thevicinity of its free end. The corresponding hole 78 is in register withthe rod 70 and is of dimensions suitable for allowing the rod 70 toslide freely but with small clearance.

It will be understood that the horizontal traction forces applied to thearmrest handle 37 by a user are transmitted via the bracket 72 and therivets 74 to the fixing plate 50 regardless of the angular position ofthe armrest 5. When the armrest is moved angularly, the rod 70 slides inone direction or the other along a circular arc centered on the pivotaxis X—X of the armrest through the hole 78 in the horizontal arm 76 ofthe bracket 72. Horizontal traction forces are thus transmitted to thehorizontal arm 76 when the rod 70 comes into abutment against an edge ofthe hole 78 following a small amount of deformation of the armrest 5.

The device as described above operates as follows: it will be understoodthat a user seeking to adjust the angular position of the armrest 5relative to its pivot axis X—X needs to pull the control portion 19rearwards so as to disengage the teeth 21 from the notches 23, to pivotthe armrest 5 into a preferred position about the axis X—X, therebyplacing the teeth 21 that correspond to the selected position intoregister with the notches 23, and to release the control portion 19 soas to allow the return spring 30 to return the rod 14 into a restposition, thereby causing the selected teeth 21 to engage in the notches23. The armrest is then again locked in a position that is fixedrelative to the pivot axis X—X.

The above-described invention presents the advantage of enabling theangular position of an armrest to be adjusted relative to a door or moregenerally to a wall of a vehicle by operations that can be performedquickly using a locking and selection device that implements mechanicalparts that are simple and of low cost. The armrest can be adjusted tooccupy a limited number of positions which are predetermined, therebyproviding a good compromise between adjustment accuracy and thecomplexity of the means involved.

The disposition of the locking and selection member, and moreparticularly the position of the portion for controlling this member ishighly ergonomic, the user having available on one surface of thearmrest not only controls for electrical accessories located on thecontrol panel, but also a mechanical control for the position of thearmrest. The position of the armrest can thus be adjusted without theuser making unnecessary movements away from the user's normal position.

What is claimed is:
 1. An armrest for an inside wall of a motor vehicle,the armrest being of elongate shape along a main longitudinal axis,presenting a first end region along said axis, and comprising aconnection member adapted to connect said first end region to the wall,wherein the connection member defines a pivoting connection about asubstantially horizontal transverse axis enabling the armrest to moveangularly relative to the wall, and wherein the armrest includes alocking member and a stop piece, said stop piece being adapted to besecured to the wall and said locking member being adapted to co-operatewith said stop piece so as to hold the armrest in modifiable manner in aselected angular position.
 2. A motor vehicle including an armrestaccording to claim
 1. 3. An armrest according to claim 1, wherein theconnection member comprises a shaft adapted to be mounted to turn in acomplementary hole of a fixing piece secured to the wall, and a frictionring engaged on said shaft and adapted to bear against an adjacent wallof the fixing piece so as to exert torque that resists pivoting of thearmrest relative to the wall.
 4. An armrest according to claim 3,wherein the friction ring is made of a flexible elastic material, inparticular of rubber.
 5. An armrest according to claim 1, wherein thearmrest is secured to a handle member which presents a circularlyarcuate rod centered on the pivot axis of the armrest, the rod beingadapted to engage a hole formed through a substantially horizontal armof a force transmission piece secured to the wall so as to enable therod to slide freely through the hole with a small amount of radialclearance.
 6. An armrest according to claim 5, wherein the handle memberis a hollow piece fitted to the armrest in a complementary recess, therod extending downwards essentially in a recess within the armrest thatis adapted to receive at least the perforated portion of the arm of theforce transmission piece.
 7. An armrest for an inside wall of a motorvehicle, the armrest being of elongate shape along a main longitudinalaxis, presenting a first end region along said axis, and comprising aconnection member adapted to connect said first end region to the wall,wherein the connection member defines a pivoting connection about asubstantially horizontal transverse axis enabling the armrest to moveangularly relative to the wall, and wherein the armrest includes alocking member and a stop piece, said stop piece being adapted to besecured to the wall and said locking member being adapted to co-operatewith said stop piece so as to hold the armrest in modifiable manner in aselected angular position, wherein the stop piece and the locking memberhave complementary notches and teeth extending radially relative to thepivot axis, said notches and teeth presenting a plurality of relativepositions and being coupled together or uncoupled by relative movementin substantially longitudinal translation.
 8. An armrest according toclaim 7, wherein the stop piece has at least one notch while the lockingmember has a plurality of teeth.
 9. An armrest according to claim 7,wherein the locking member has a rod that is slidable relative to thearmrest in a substantially longitudinal direction.
 10. An armrestaccording to claim 9, wherein a return spring acting in the slidingdirection of the rod connects said rod to the armrest in such a manneras to apply a force tending to couple together the notches and theteeth.
 11. An armrest according to claim 9, wherein the armrest presentsa hollow inside volume in which the stop piece and at least a portion ofthe locking member carrying the teeth extend, an end portion of the rodextending to a top face of the armrest so as to constitute a controlmember.
 12. An armrest for a wall of a motor vehicle, the armrestcomprising: an elongate shelf having a longitudinal axis; a pivot insaid shelf adjacent to an end of said shelf and about which said shelfrotates; a lock in said shelf spaced from said pivot and having pluralnotches, said lock being adapted to fix said shelf in plural positionsdefined by said plural notches relative to a wall of a motor vehicle;and a rod in said shelf that is movable generally parallel to thelongitudinal axis to unfix said lock to permit rotation of said shelfabout said pivot.
 13. The armrest of claim 12, wherein said lockcomprises a stop piece adapted to be fixed to a wall of a motor vehicleand a complementary piece that engages said stop piece to fix said shelfin said plural positions, wherein movement of said rod separates saidstop piece from said complementary piece.
 14. The armrest of claim 12,wherein said plural notches extend radially relative to said pivot.